AWG Board Members
Executive Committee

Christine Ann Miller
AWG Board Chair
President & CEO
Melinta Therapeutics
Manos Perros, Ph.D.
AWG Vice Chair
Chief Executive Officer, co-Founder and Director
Entasis Therapeutics
Manos Perros, Ph.D., has served as Chief Executive Officer, co-founder and Director of Entasis Therapeutics since May 2015. Prior to this, Dr. Perros worked for AstraZeneca AB as Vice President and head of its infection research and early development organization from 2010 to 2015 and as site head for its research center in Waltham, Massachusetts from 2012 to 2015. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Dr. Perros served as Director of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases in Singapore, and prior to that, as Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer, Antivirals, at Pfizer, Inc. A chemist by training, Dr. Perros conducted his Ph.D. work in Belgium, France and Germany, and was an Associate in the Biophysics department at Yale from 1993 to 1995. Dr. Perros received the PhRMA Discoverer’s Award in 2010.

Ted Schroeder
Ted Schroeder
Chief Executive Officer
Nabriva Therapeutics
Ted Schroeder joined Nabriva Therapeutics plc in July 2018. During the last 30 years, he has been focused on drug development and commercialization in both large and small pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Ted served as president, chief executive officer and director of Zavante Therapeutics until its acquisition by Nabriva Therapeutics in 2018. Ted co-founded Cadence Pharmaceuticals in 2004 and previously held leadership roles at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Dura Pharmaceuticals and earlier in his career, Bristol-Myers Squibb. He currently serves on the board of Cidara Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CDTX), Otonomy (Nasdaq: OTIC) and Collegium Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: COLL). He is a former chair of BIOCOM, the Southern California life sciences trade association and in 2014, he was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the San Diego region and was listed as a national finalist. He received a bachelor’s degree in management from Rutgers University.

Manos Perros, Ph.D
AWG Vice Chair
Chief Executive Officer, co-Founder and Director
Entasis Therapeutics
Manos Perros, Ph.D.
AWG Vice Chair
Chief Executive Officer, co-Founder and Director
Entasis Therapeutics
Manos Perros, Ph.D., has served as Chief Executive Officer, co-founder and Director of Entasis Therapeutics since May 2015. Prior to this, Dr. Perros worked for AstraZeneca AB as Vice President and head of its infection research and early development organization from 2010 to 2015 and as site head for its research center in Waltham, Massachusetts from 2012 to 2015. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Dr. Perros served as Director of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases in Singapore, and prior to that, as Vice-President and Chief Scientific Officer, Antivirals, at Pfizer, Inc. A chemist by training, Dr. Perros conducted his Ph.D. work in Belgium, France and Germany, and was an Associate in the Biophysics department at Yale from 1993 to 1995. Dr. Perros received the PhRMA Discoverer’s Award in 2010.

Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D.
Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D.
Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Burns has more than 25 years of corporate and research and development experience within both major and specialty pharmaceutical companies. At VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Burns has developed a comprehensive USG/NGO financing strategy that has enabled the Company to build out a world-class antibacterials portfolio. Prior to VenatoRx, Dr. Burns served as a member of the Executive Management Team and as Vice President of Research at Protez Pharmaceuticals through its acquisition by Novartis in 2008. Prior to Protez/Novartis, Dr. Burns served as Director of Chemistry at ViroPharma, producing clinical candidates for Hepatitis C (HCV-796) and smallpox infections (Tecovirimat, licensed to and developed by Siga Technologies). Prior to this, Dr. Burns served as a core member of the Global Lead Optimization Counsel at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer/Aventis. During his 12 years at RPR/Aventis, Dr. Burns led multidisciplinary teams in bone metabolism, cardiovascular disease (in the U.S.), and oncology (in France). Dr. Burns has appeared as co-author or co-inventor on more than 60 patents and publications and has served as Principal Investigator on more than 10 awarded U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) grants. He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Nobel-laureate Professor K. Barry Sharpless. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Life Sciences Pennsylvania (LSPA) and the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG). .
Board of Directors

Robert J. DeLuccia
Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Robert J. DeLuccia
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman
Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Currently, Mr. DeLuccia is Executive Chairman of Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACXP), a New York-based, development-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a new class of antibiotics to treat common infections caused by certain Gram-positive bacteria and to combat the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to currently available antibiotics, which he co-founded in 2017. He has 50 years’ executive and hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry involving sales, marketing, manufacturing and new product development with global pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer and Sanofi). Mr. DeLuccia has held senior executive positions in both companies and has also been Chief Executive Officer of two publicly traded (Nasdaq) biopharmaceutical companies (Immunomedics, Inc. and MacroChem CORP). He was formerly Executive Chairman of publicly traded (Nasdaq) Dipexium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a New York-based, antibiotic development-stage biopharmaceutical company which he Co-Founded and subsequently took public. In April 2017, Dipexium closed a merger with PLx Pharma Inc. (PLXP-Nasdaq), a late-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing Aspertec™, its aspirin product in its proprietary PLxGuard™ drug delivery system to provide high-risk cardiovascular and stroke patients with more reliable and predictable antiplatelet efficacy and better tolerated treatment.
His therapeutic areas of marketing experience include new product introductions and drug development in the following areas: antibiotics (doxycycline, bacampicillin, cefaperazone) and antidiabetic agents (chlorpropamide and glypizide); and cardiovasculars (amrinone; clopidogrel) and iohexol contrast media. New drug development areas included: topical creams/gels for erectile dysfunction, testosterone, onychomycosis and diabetic foot infection.
He is also a member of the Board of Directors of IBEX Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded (IBT.V/TSXV.IBT), Montreal-based company involved in the manufacture and marketing of proteins for biomedical use and arthritis assays widely used in osteoarthritis research. Mr. DeLuccia received his undergraduate degree and MBA from Iona College, New York. Military Service, Officer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Erin Mistry
Government affairs and Trade
CorMedix, inc.
Erin Mistry
Senior Vice President of Market Access,
Government affairs and Trade
CorMedix, Inc.
Erin Mistry is an experienced biotech executive with a focus on global commercial strategy, portfolio prioritization, brand development, pricing, policy, and payer positioning.
Currently Senior Vice President of Market Access, Government affairs and Trade at CorMedix Inc. Ms. Mistry is leading a variety of policy and commercial efforts to support an antimicrobial product launch in the near future.
Previously, Ms. Mistry worked for Duke University Health System on formulary management and the development and implementation of system wide quality metrics before spending several years at MedImmune. While at MedImmune Ms. Mistry focused on the global rollout and reimbursement of FluMist and Synagis prior to and during their acquisition by AstraZeneca. In 2012, Ms. Mistry went into management consulting which culminated in global P&L responsibility focused on emerging, mid, and large biopharma companies to enhance their portfolio and value optimization. Specifically she led and negotiated with executive teams and their boards on launch pricing scenarios of more than a dozen products across a range of indications, including oncology, rare/orphan diseases, diabetes, infectious disease, metabolic disorders, ophthalmology, CNS, and cardiovascular. During her time consulting, Ms. Mistry focused in on several companies regarding antibiotic resistance and anti-microbial stewardship by working directly with IDN organizations and large academic institutions on quality metrics and data reporting prior to rejoining industry.
Ms. Mistry, is also an active mentor to early stage companies in Massachusetts through MassBIO and a current advisory member of the Incubate Coalition - venture capital organizations representing the patient, corporate, and investment communities. The primary aim is to educate policymakers on the role of venture in bringing promising ideas to patients in need.
Ms. Mistry received both her M.S. in Biomechanical Engineering and B.S. in Industrial Engineering, Healthcare track from North Carolina State University. Ms. Mistry is also a Six Sigma Black Belt and has testified formally on Drug Pricing.

Urs Ochsner, Ph.D.
Urs Ochsner, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
Crestone, Inc.
Urs Ochsner, Ph.D., has served as Chief Executive Officer, co-founder and Vice President R&D of Crestone Inc. since 2017. Previous positions include Director of Microbiology at Somalogic, Inc. (2009-2017) to conduct R&D efforts toward proteomics-based diagnostics of global pathogens, and Principal Scientist in Microbiology at Replidyne (2002-2008) focusing on antibacterial drug discovery. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ochsner enjoyed an academic career (1994-2002), studying genetic regulation of bacterial pathogenesis at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center focusing on P. aeruginosa. Dr. Ochsner earned his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He was awarded the Swiss Microbiology Price in 2001 and the Lepetit Award in 1995.

Corey Fishman
Chief Executive Officer
Iterum Therapeutics
Christine Ann Miller
AWG Board Chair
President & CEO
Melinta Therapeutics
Christine Ann Miller has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of Melinta Therapeutics since August 2020. Ms. Miller is a global pharmaceutical veteran with more than 20 years of experience in life sciences. Most recently, Ms. Miller led the global and U.S. product portfolio for Sandoz, a $10 billion division of Novartis, where she was accountable for transitioning the portfolio toward- rapid-growth and higher-margin segments, such as complex generics and value-added medicines, while continuing to build the branded generics business.
Among her various achievements, Ms. Miller directed more than 50 product launches that generated over $300 million of new annual revenue, closed numerous business development acquisitions, and built a robust five-year development and acquisition product pipeline. Before Sandoz, Ms. Miller spent over a decade at Actavis (now Allergan) and its predecessor Watson Pharmaceuticals where she led the preparation of numerous product launches and held leadership roles in both R&D operations and supply chain management. Ms. Miller started her career at Merck as a chemical engineer and procurement analyst and earned an MBA and a Master’s in Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Ms. Miller’s leadership focus combines her passion for building and leading high performing teams with goal-driven operational rigor. She articulates a clear mission, vision and strategy that engages people to cohesively work towards creative problem solving and innovative solutions.
She serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and is a frequent panelist and speaker at industry events.

Michael N. Dudley, Pharm.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Qpex Biopharma, Inc.
Michael N. Dudley, Pharm.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Qpex Biopharma, Inc.
Dr. Dudley has over 30 years of experience in antiinfective drug research, development, and commercialization. In 2018, he co-founded Qpex Biopharma which raised $33M in Series A financing and acquired the preclinical infectious disease programs from The Medicines Company. He has overseen the development and regulatory approval of 3 antibiotics, most recently a beta-lactamase inhibitor combination product from a new chemical class (vaborbactam) discovered in the company laboratories. The antibiotic product Vabomere™ advanced from discovery to FDA approval in 2017 in less than 8 years. He lead the negotiation for multiple contracts from public-private partnerships (e.g., BARDA of the US Government; Innovative Medicines Initiative for the EU) for a combined total of over $190 million funding to advance antimicrobial agents in development in the US and Europe. Prior to co-founding Qpex, he was Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Rempex Pharmaceuticals that was acquired by the Medicines Company (MDCO) in 2013, where he remained as the co-leader of the Infectious Disease Business Unit of MDCO. Prior to Rempex, he held VP/SVP/CSO positions of increasing responsibility at the biotech companies Mpex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Aptalis in 2011), Diversa Corporation, and Microcide Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his career in pharmaceutical industry, he held full-time academic appointments that included Professor of Pharmacy and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy (URI), and Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, RI. As an academic researcher, he conducted preclinical and clinical research in antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral agents, including pioneering work on PK-PD approaches for several classes of antiinfectives. Dr. Dudley has published over 130 scientific papers and book chapters describing the evaluation and clinical use of antiinfective agents and treatment of infectious diseases. He has served as an invited speaker at several FDA and EMA workshops, international meetings on infectious diseases, and advisor to several companies. He has served as an Editor for the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and numerous other editorial and advisory boards. He completed undergraduate work at Pepperdine University and his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), completed at residency at UCSF, and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Hartford Hospital.

Marco Taglietti, M.D.
Marco Taglietti, M.D.
Dr. Taglietti joined SCYNEXIS as Chief Executive Officer in April 2015 and has been a member of the board since November 2014. He became SCYNEXIS President in September 2015. He served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development, and Chief Medical Officer of Forest Laboratories, Inc. and as President of the Forest Research Institute until its acquisition by Actavis in 2014. Prior to joining Forest Laboratories, Inc. in 2007, Dr. Taglietti held the position of Senior Vice President, Head of Global Research and Development, at Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. for three years. He joined Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. after 12 years at Schering-Plough Corporation where he last held the position of Vice President, Worldwide Clinical Research for Anti-Infectives, Oncology, CNS, Endocrinology and Dermatology. Dr. Taglietti began his pharmaceutical career at Marion Merrell Dow Research Institute. Over the course of his career, he has brought to market 35 different products in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Taglietti currently serves on the Board of Directors of NephroGenex, Inc. (NASDAQ:NRX) and Delcath (NASDAQ:DCTH). He received his medical degree and board certifications from the University of Pavia in Italy.

Stephen Conafay
AWG Washington Counsel
Stephen Conafay
AWG Washington Counsel
Steve Conafay has 35 years of leadership and management experience in government relations, public policy and communications. As the sole principal at The Conafay Group, he oversees all client servicing. While leader of the bio-life science practice at Fabiani & Company, he oversaw more than $810 million in non-dilutive financing awarded to the team’s clients. For 12 years, Mr. Conafay was vice president of government relations for Pfizer, where he was elected as a corporate officer in 1984. He served as senior vice president of corporate affairs for Glaxo Inc., where he was also a member of the Board of Directors. After heading the legislative practice for Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue, the world’s second largest law firm, he was tapped by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to assume the No. 2 position of executive vice president of strategic and legislative affairs. He also served as an executive fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the leading free market think tank in the U.S. After moving to the New York area, Mr. Conafay joined Shandwick, where he assumed several positions of increasing responsibility, culminating with his appointment as chief executive officer for The Americas-East in 2000.
Mr. Conafay is a lawyer and a decorated Vietnam veteran. He served as an infantry platoon leader and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal, among others. He is also an avid golfer and has been a member of Congressional Country Club for more than 30 years. Mr. Conafay is a lifelong fan of the New York and San Francisco Giants. In his 60s, he ran and completed four Army 10-miler races, and plans to continue competing in his 70s.